From Sorrow To Serenity

Rating:
Summary: The Journey of Grief after Subsequent Loss
Review: As the mother of a stillborn son 9/11/97 and recently suffering a subsequent loss (ectopic pregnancy 10/26/99), I find myself searching again for comfort and hope. Susan Fletcher's "From Sorrow to Serenity" compares grief feelings with scripture quotes, offering encouragement in an otherwise dark journey. The only thing I'm not convinced of ... do we ever really get to complete serenity? I sometimes find glimpses of serenity and peace; perhaps there are more lessons to learn as I continue to travel down this difficult path.

Rating:
Summary: An invaluable book for anyone who has lost a baby
Review: If a person hasn't had the heart-wrenching experience, it just isn't possible to understand how hard it is to lose a baby--whether during a pregnancy or or after birth.

It's a devastating experience made all the worse by the fact that at times the grief is not only overwhelmingly painful, but it seems as though it will never, ever get better--because your beloved child is lost to you forever. Helpful platitudes or wary avoidance of the topic by friends and relatives just isolates you further during those very dark times. If I'd had this book the first year after we lost our nine-day old daughter, I wouldn't have felt so very alone and lost in my sorrow. Even now, several years later, the book truly touched my heart.

Fletcher's book offers perception and empathy, and by addressing those dark feelings of grief she makes it easier to work through them. Her message of hope and faith is like a lifeline, for even those of us who have grown up in faith can find that faith shaken and tested when that most heart-breaking loss occurs.

I recommend this book highly--buy it for yourself, or buy it for a friend who is grieving for a little one...and also for the grandmas' and grandpas, and other relatives who are grieving, too. They often have very little support in their grief, and I know my mom needed this book as much as I did!

I've heard that this author has done a lot of speaking on infant loss and bereavement at conferences, and hope I can hear her speak someday. Bless her for giving of herself in this way!